There, you have some sort of disclaimer that seems (to me at least) like a lame apology for the game running and looking like crap.

They say that this game is meant for the future generation of hardware??!! How much bullshit is that? What's the point even? I mean, the game looked awesome on consoles that are running on 3-yr-old hardware that basically would get destroyed and obliterated by current PC hardware... and even powerful PC's are being raped by this game?

Does anyone think this is just a bad console port?

How can a solid, powerful CPU like that and a top-end GPU run the game like crap?

I knew from playing GTA4 on my console, that the game will require a great amount of engine coding and optimization to work on a PC. R* has spent a great amount of time and money making the game on the console, so having it ported over for the PC within 6-7 months is very short...especially to support the array of hardware out their. And this is not like the other GTA's on the PC. For GTA4 PC...R* has to port the RAGE engine, and euphoria, which has yet to be done in any other game.

Even though the console are based on 2 generation old hardware, it just shows that proper coding for them can do...

Rockstar is one of the few publishers that actually tries to get ports right. Grand Theft Auto 3 (and sons) and Bully: Scholarship Edition were done exceptionally well. Maybe this new engine they are using for GTA4 isn't as good at porting (rather, designed to be a rapid port so they don't spend the time to get everything just right). I don't know for sure because I haven't played it yet...

There, you have some sort of disclaimer that seems (to me at least) like a lame apology for the game running and looking like crap.

They say that this game is meant for the future generation of hardware??!! How much bullshit is that? What's the point even? I mean, the game looked awesome on consoles that are running on 3-yr-old hardware that basically would get destroyed and obliterated by current PC hardware... and even powerful PC's are being raped by this game?

Does anyone think this is just a bad console port?

How can a solid, powerful CPU like that and a top-end GPU run the game like crap?

Click to expand...

that is exactly what happen with crysis, when it first came out no one could play it on high at high resolutions and a couple of generations later we can, so it will happen the same, wait a year to play it on high and you are done

I dont think the youtube link you provided is too bad. Sure it could be even better, but its pretty impressive: it's better than previous GTA versions.

>> I watched the whole clip right through. It's just amazing to see how this has come on since GTA2 (first GTA game i played).

Click to expand...

Dunno about you but that vid made me want to buy it LMAO. Thing is today people will bitch what ever is done. Always some one complaining some thing not look as good as they want some thing or a game crushes there comp when it does have high requirements.

Only thing i see wrong is the min and max specs on the box should of been higher.

yes it is supposed to look better but the graphics quality settings are limited based on how much VRAM you have. 2 4850's(512MB) in crossfire are limited to medium texture quality.

if you are using Crossfire or SLI it only detects the VRAM on one of the cards

Click to expand...

Considering the game is 13+ GiB on disk and over 16 GiB installed, most of that density is probably comprised of high resolution textures. Then consider the type of game (open) GTA is. I don't know what Rockstar was smoking but those things combined are just ridiculous. I'd say it wouldn't be far fetched to require a 2-4 GiB video card in order to not down scale images.

Bottom line: consoles ain't got nothing on what the PC version is designed to do even if no PC hardware is on par to do it.

I've been playing it for the past few hours and it's good. The fact of the matter is there are so many textures that need to be drawn in this game that anything below a GTX280 won't cut it at it's highest settings. I'm playing at 1920x1200 on a 4870 and I'm getting around 30fps with no big drops in framerate.

if you are using Crossfire or SLI it only detects the VRAM on one of the cards

Click to expand...

eh? Perhaps you are confused how croffire/SLI works. It is 2x512MB. Each GPU gets its own 512MB. If you have a texture, it has to be IN BOTH memories. It has to duplicate everything. So OF COURSE there is only 512MB memory to play with for graphics settings. The other 512MB is just "mirroring" (to some extent) what is already happening in the other 512MB. YOU CANNOT LOAD 800MB of graphics assets into a 512MB memory map. Likewise you cannot load 800MB of graphics into a memory map of 512MB on one GPU and another 512MB on another GPU. There is NO ring bus between the memories. GPU 1 cannot access memory of GPU 2 and vice versa.

Most users using current PC hardware as of December 2008 are advised to use medium graphics settings. Higher settings are provided for future generations of PCs with higher specifications than are currently widely available.

Graphics settings are limited by system resources by default. 256MB video cards force minimum settings by default. If a user bypasses these safety measures using command line arguments and exceeds their system resources, the users gaming experience may be compromised.

Video Mode
Resolution scaling effects water, reflections, shadows, mirrors and the visible viewable distance. The resolution settings relate to the amount of available video memory. At 2560*1600 the game will require 320MB of video memory in addition to all the memory required for content. At 800*600 the game will require 32MB of video memory in addition to the content. Medium resolution settings are recommended for most users as higher settings are only usable if there is available video memory.

Texture Quality
Texture quality affects the visual quality of the content of the game. High setting for textures will require 600MB of video memory at a setting of 21 View Distance in addition to the memory taken by the Video Mode. A medium texture setting is recommended for most users.

Render Quality
Render quality is the texture filter quality used on most things in the world rendering. Most people would know this as anisotropic filtering. Medium settings are recommended for most users and will provide filtering beyond what the console versions can execute.

View Distance
View distance scales the distance in which different objects in the world such as building and cars are seen. Raising this option increases the distance in which high quality objects must be loaded and will increase the memory it requires. Restrictions are established to ensure the game runs optimally for most users. A setting of 22 or more will provide PC users an enhanced experience over the console versions.

Detail Distance
Detail distance scales aspects of the environment that the View Distance setting does not including vegetation, trash and other moveable objects. A setting of 10 would be the equivalent to the performance on a console. This setting has little effect on memory.

Vehicle Density
Vehicle density scales the traffic density of the traffic in the game. It has no effect on the mission vehicles or difficultly of the game, but can have a significant impact on CPU performance

Shadow Density
Shadow Density controls the number of shadows generated for positional lights in exterior environments. These shadows are exclusive to the PC version and can have a major impact on CPU and GPU performance.

Crossfire/SLI
With the latest ATI driver (8-11 series) the game supports crossfire modes (ie. 4870x2)
SLI is currently unsupported. Support will be added through a future game patch as well as an updated Nvidia driver.

NOTE: Background Processes
Certain background processes can have a detrimental effect on system performance when playing GTA IV, especially on systems with minimum required system memory. Users should ensure they disable their Virus scans (especially “on-access” type scans) when running the game to maximize performance.

Come on! :shadedshu I was really waiting for this but now I'm totally disapointed. Future hardware my ass. How much memory does the 360 or the ps3 video card have? Cause if it can run at 720p on those consoles it should run at 1080p on a good PC.

GTA IV - most anticipated , FAIL, run rockstar social club and games for windows just to run the game ? what kind of DRM sh*t is that. Blame current hardware for bad coding and say that next gen hardware will run the game on full settings. ROFAIL

COD:W@W - WWII , not again ! :shadedshu
Whats up with such a linear gameplay, you can't even climb small hill or cross over small trees on the side. Partial FAIL